Each day leading up to the 30th annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony, we’ll be featuring an exclusive interview with one of our 36 finalists. Learn more about these incredible local writers and gear up to see the winners announced live in person April 21.
Interview with Benjamin Percy, author of The Dark Net
Category: Genre Fiction, sponsored by Macalester College
I’m grateful to be a finalist, especially in the company of such powerhouse writers. And I’m grateful to live in a state that celebrates literature.
What does writing mean to you?
I write to entertain, to educate, to motivate, to thrill.
Why are stories important for our communities?
If you’re a reader, you can travel through time and across geographic, gender, sexual, political, religious, cultural boundaries. If you’re a reader, you’re more aware of and empathetic toward the people all around you, which hopefully inspires you to be a better person and more engaged citizen.
Tell us something people might not know about you.
When I’m not writing, I keep busy as a world-famous magician, high-wire trapeze artist, superhero, spy, mime, drug lord, jellyfish farmer, and a chef at a michelin-starred restaurant that serves only bacon.
What do you love about libraries?
I worship at an altar built of twenty-six letters, so libraries are my temple.
More about Benjamin Percy
Benjamin Percy is the author of four novels – most recently The Dark Net – as well as two books of short fiction and a book of essays. He writes the Green Arrow and Teen Titans series for DC Comics, and James Bond for Dynamite Entertainment. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire, GQ, Time, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Paris Review. His honors include the Whiting Award, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, an NEA fellowship and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics.
See the winners announced live at the 30th annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony!
